In the Enemy's Body
by kasumi.EFP
Summary: This 'What if' takes place during season four, after the episode "Who are you?" Faith's words in Buffy's body didn't go forgotten by Spike but did quite a number on him, and he acts a little differently from on the TV show. What sweeter revenge for being seduced than to seduce the Slayer himself?
1. Chapter 1

**In the Enemy's Body**

This 'What if' takes place during season four, after the episode "Who are you?" Faith's words in Buffy's body didn't go forgotten by Spike but did quite a number on him, and he acts a little differently from on the TV show. What sweeter revenge for being seduced than to seduce the Slayer himself?

Rating: R

Warnings for Sexual Situations and Adult language

Author's note: for the benefit of the story, I changed some canon things and their chronological order.

Total length: 8 chapters, about 20.000 words.

Betaed by my Italian friend Redan, who helped me a lot with plot bunnies and such.

I'm also thankful to All4Spike for helping me with this English version.

I'm sorry I started to post 'The Demon in me' and then suspended it. Problem is I have some difficulties translating my stories into English, although I'm pretty good with the English to Italian translating thing. The Demon is already finished in my language and maybe one day I'll post it in English too.

This story is more recent and half the length of 'The Demon in me', so I'll give it a try.

I hope you'll enjoy it, since I have so much fun writing it

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Chapter 1**

 _I could squeeze you..._

… _until you popped like warm champagne and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more…_

Words like that should be illegal, he decided. Or, at least, it should be illegal to say them and then make off, leaving the poor guy feeling rotten in a corner, dealing with a pair of blue balls and a sad and lonely evening. Now he was left trying to calm the pain and the scorching heat that seemed to keep auto-regenerating between his legs.

How he bloody hated her. That tiny, frigid, self-righteous bitch, always ready to judge and condemn from the height of her bloody pedestal. And now here she was, mocking him with a new taunt.

 _I could have anything. Anyone. Even you, Spike..._

Who the hell did she think she was? All his rage did nothing but get his movements in a frenzy, especially when he imagined her mad glare, her face red and hot, as she pointed her finger and told him exactly what she thought of him. He kept stroking his shaft, wondering what she would think of him, if she knew what he was doing. _Yeah, look at me, and tell me you like what you see._ The Buffy of his fantasy did just that, like the cooperative little thing she was, and immediately got hot for other reasons. He saw her pupils dilating, the green in her big eyes being engulfed in two black puddles of lust, her soft mouth lowering towards his erection, her lips half-open and eager, with the clear intent of devouring him...

 _Fuck!_

Only the sight of her like this let him finally reach his agonized relief, leaving him trembling and panting for breath. And she hadn't even touched him! Christ, he was so fucked.

This made him hate her even more.

One hour later, sprawled in his new favorite armchair (that was old and quite worn and had some unidentified stains, but what the hell do you expect from a landfill?), Spike tried to follow Passions. But every time, images of the Slayer intruded his mind. She appeared in various degrees of nudity, humor, excitement, confidence, and underwear color. He would imagine her with or without a whip, thigh-high boots, with or without that stupid seductive smile with which she had looked at him that day at the Bronze... Hell, he kept getting as distracted as a poor schoolboy with his first crush.

What the fuck has got into him? Okay, seeing Miss white panties ... because now he was imagining it like this ... all white panties – nice girls wear white cotton panties, yeah? – , white blouse and a cheerleader miniskirt, much like Britney Spears in that 'Baby one more time' video, complete with a lollipop and a pair of glasses with heart shaped lens, and _Christ_ , now he was fucking digressing.

What was he saying? Ah yes, 'Baby one more time', which was actually 'hit me baby one more time', which was really not helping, because it reminded him all too well of his cravings, divided between wanting to hit her with something and wanting to hit her. Maybe flinging his dick in her face, like a kind of whip, just to ...

 _AAAAAARGH!_

He'd had enough.

Almost an entire hour going on like this, he really had had enough.

How could she... No, how could _he_ let her crawl her way into his most intimate dreams, in that slimy and silent way? Why had he let himself be seduced like an ass? Like a newbie? From that scrap of a girl with white cotton panties, on top of it.

But Spike wasn't a novice, and he knew every shade of seduction. He had often used the same tricks in his past when his fangs were efficient, to lure some victim. He used to make them squirm, he did. And he liked to watch, while they were all writhing and sweating and fanning themselves with their hands. Sometimes they even fainted on the spot, his predatory gaze too much to bear. The fact was, he was too bloody good at it, and his victims used to offer themselves of their own accord. There was no need for thrall nor forcing; women fell at his feet and begged him to have mercy and put an end to their hormones' suffering.

That was how things had to be. He had to flip the cards on the table and put _her_ in the suffering side. He would seduce her and that would be his revenge. And if she was willing to have a one night stand in the process, he would not complain.

Maybe two.

Mmmhhh... he felt his lips stretch into a large grin, the grin of a cat that had just caught his prey. Maybe a _full_ night of a writhing and sweaty Slayer under his hands...

NO! For Christ's sake, NO!

The vampire shook his head, disgusted by those thoughts. He wouldn't spend all the bloody day thinking about her, he would rather intoxicate himself and collapse into numbness. He took a bottle of beer from the fridge and consumed it hungrily, then tossed the empty container against the wall of his new crypt. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces and the vampire nodded to himself, pleased with the sound. He grabbed another two beers and sat on the stone sarcophagus, intent on spending the afternoon getting drunk.

After a moment's hesitation, he shrugged and replaced the beers with a few bottles of liquor.

Just when he was about to get numb for good, he heard footsteps coming from the sewer, which the crypt he had found was connected with. Spike looked up at the ceiling and cursed, putting the bottle down.

"Spike, I want you to come with me."

Great! Here was Adam, the hybrid half-human, half-demon and half-robot that everyone was looking for, standing in his crypt, with a curious bodybuilder pose with his chest out.

"Well, let's go then," the vampire bluffed friendliness, and approached the half demon, just to try to punch him in the stomach. "OW!" He waved his fist in the air in pain, while Adam had moved not even a centimeter. Shit, he had forgotten he was made of metal.

"Come. You're going to help me with my problem. "

Spike's eyes narrowed for a moment. "Why is that exactly?"

"I'm going to help you with yours."

Well, it could be interesting, Spike thought as he began to follow him.

That evening, Buffy did not feel like dancing. And the moment she saw Spike enter the Bronze, the little desire to have fun she had, completely evaporated, like a spell.

She looked at the platinum head with contempt while he advanced in the midst of the crowd, toward the bar. Idiot. They had taken everything from him... Dru, his dignity, his integrity as a vampire... And now he had no choice but being her constant pain in the ass, to have some satisfaction in his current pathetic life. On the one hand she pitied him, but on the other she just wanted to shout at him: why on earth, with all the people of this world, would you choose to annoy exactly ME? Just looking at him across the room she had goosebumps all over her skin.

She just needed him to further spoil the evening, as if she hadn't enough on her mind with Riley and Faith, and Faith, and Riley, and Angel. Angel who took Faith's side and Riley who made love with Faith. Riley who had just thought she had the urge to experiment a bit, and then was even moved by how she'd looked at him, as if they were making love for the first time. Of course, because it was really the first time for Faith, to make love instead of having some random sex. Courtesy of Buffy's generous boyfriend. And it was that very thought, that they had made love, which made Buffy so miserable. In addition to the terrible feeling that she still had with her, to be trapped in another body, while a psychopathic killer used _her own_ as she saw fit. Faith had threatened to ruin Buffy's friendships and her reputation, to harm her mother and the people she cared about, to do things that the police could arrest Buffy for later...

'It was with you, I thought I was making love', Riley had said. And this was supposed to make her feel better, but it didn't, because the thought of Faith usurping her body continued to haunt her. Who knows what else she had done with it, without Buffy knowing? And how much more could she have done, if she had not been stopped in time?

Yet Angel had decided that Faith had to be protected, that she was entitled to a second chance, as if she were only a little girl who was lost in the rain and needed help to get home. What the hell did these men have in front of their eyes? Ham slices?

She shook her head vigorously and looked up to see that Spike was staring at her from the other side of the room, with a strange expression on his face. It was a mixture of disappointment, bitterness and ill-concealed hatred, and something else that she could not identify but which immediately gave her the chills.

Her eyes narrowed and she hardened her face, wearing her usual mask of the icy and unforgiving Slayer. If only he dared to tease her for her weakness...

Instead Spike seemed to smile to himself, as if he had anticipated her reaction and it amused him, and then simply looked down and turned around, heading slowly for the exit without saying a word or making any gesture.

The instinct to follow him was strong, the need to release all the tension she had accumulated during the whole Faith's affair, but Buffy decided it was not the right night for a round of 'kick the Spike'. She felt too down to be mean to someone.

Author's note: the dialogue between Spike and Adam was taken by 4x19 New moon Rising.


	2. Chapter 2

Warning for Adult Language and a bit of forcing from Spike's side.

 **Chapter 2**

Two nights and a job for the gang later, the group gathered itself again at the Bronze.

The blonde did not seem to have fun, Spike thought, just as had happened the last time he had met her here. And he had every intention to remedy this. He approached her with a sly smile and rubbed his thumb against the forefinger of his right hand in front of her face, indicating that he was waiting for his payment.

Buffy rolled her eyes and gestured with her chin towards the door that led to the alley. She reluctantly stood up and expected him to follow her, without looking back.

Spike smiled to himself. The alley was perfect for what he had in mind.

"Here's your money, Spike," she told him once they were out in the alley, without trying to conceal her contempt.

The money was tossed in his open palm, but when she started to turn around and go back in the club, the vampire grabbed her arm. "Hey, hey, not so fast, you little bitch."

"What do you want?" She growled. "Isn't it enough for you, to get paid handsomely for a job that I've been doing for free all this time?" Spike was making her back away slowly toward the wall, his hands on her arms, gentle but strong.

"Well, you're the idiot that does it for free. And speaking of painful buttons, don't tell me you expected to get away with your tantalising little speech of four nights ago." He dropped his voice an octave. The last words were little more than a cool whisper against her face.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Oh, he could hear her breathing become more labored. What bliss.

"About how you could have me, if only you wanted!" His voice thundered in the alley, suddenly high and sharp. From her surprise and confused expression, he could say that she was not expecting it. But he didn't give her time to reply. "Well, don't you know I can have you whenever I want you, too?"

Buffy's back slammed into the brick wall and she blinked. "What the hell ...?" But he was on her in a flash, his lips pressed against hers, searching them eagerly, as he pressed his hard body against her petite figure. _All_ of his hard body, and _especially_ the hardest parts.

She tried to pull away, gasping and pushing against him with her hands. "Spike! What the hell are you doing? What does this mean?"

"I can lick your cunt for hours..."

"Ughh"

"Make you come so many times with my hands, I could wear your pussy out with the rubbing..."

"Spike!"

He kept pushing rhythmically against her, the harshness of his words and his attack at odds with the soft flesh against which he was pressing. "Without mentioning what I could do to you with..." He rolled his hips against hers, emphasizing his point. She moaned and kept moving under him to get free, but this only increased his arousal.

"No!" She was able to scream when he peeled his lips from hers to let her breathe. His form crouched down, and he grabbed her thighs, lifting her body against the wall. "What are you doing? That's enough! This joke is over..." but he balanced against the wall, and released one hand which was grabbing her leg to place it against her mouth.

"I'm doing exactly what it seems," he panted against her face. "I was tired of strolling under your window after the soldier boy was gone and hearing you gasp as you inserted first one digit and then another in your cunt..."

"Mhhhh!" She growled against his hand.

"...to try and get a bit of the pleasure he hadn't been able to give you."

He inserted his hand between their bodies, rubbing it against the right spot through her rough jeans, and she bit into his hand as she came. He didn't know when it happened, but her arms stopped trying to push him away and instead began to pull him closer. One of her arms went behind his neck and the other around his shoulders. And then those fabulous Slayer muscles in her legs began to flex and move in rhythm, desperately trying to prolong the pleasure.

Buffy was really squeezing him, he thought with satisfaction. At one point her moans seemed to calm down but she didn't release him. Instead she kept holding him tightly. Spike brushed a strand of sweaty hair from her face and pulled back for a better look. His grin went from one side of his face to the other. "I know I'm good, but ..." he started to say, but stopped when he realized she was crying.

What the bleeding fuck? he thought. Now he was confused. When did she stop moaning in pleasure and start to sob? Maybe she had cried all the time and he hadn't even noticed. She'd said, "No, that's enough, what are you doing?" but he was sure she had enjoyed his ministrations. His expression darkened all of a sudden, and he felt rage building inside of him. He was tempted to just pull her tiny greedy hands from him and throw her to the ground. Look at her as she wept, slumped to the ground. He wanted to lift his chin and toss her back the money with which she'd paid him. He wanted to tell her that she was a filthy whore and he didn't need her money, he had just taken another type of payment from her. Only it wasn't true... he hadn't shagged her and, to be honest, he had not even reached his release, unlike her. Bloody idiot! Always think about the women first.

He huffed in frustration and arranged the painful erection in his pants, wishing that things had gone differently. He only wanted to humiliate her, instead he had given her a good orgasm, and all he had gained from this was another solitary evening, wanking to death, and thinking about her. He really was a git.

Buffy sniffled and looked up from where she had rested her face gently on Spike's shoulder. It seemed like she had been there forever. "I'm sorry ..." she said.

 _I'm sorry?_

"You don't have to apologize," Spike said, surprised by his own words. What the hell has got to him? He shook his head firmly to clear his thoughts. His hands slowly released her legs and let her feet touch the ground. Now she was standing in front of him. They were no longer pressed together, but were still very close. The breaths of each crashing softly on the other's face.

Once her feet feel secure on the ground, Buffy wiped her tears. She blinked several times and frowned. "You're right. 'I'm sorry' my ass!" She shouted, and violently jerked her arm forward.

"OW!"

Spike stepped back and brought both hands to his nose, cursing. Had she just punched him?

"What happened between us, four nights ago?" She asked, keeping an annoyingly high and demanding tone. "Tell me what the hell happened! Did she go to bed with you, too? I should have thought of that... that little bitch..."

"Fuck you!" Was the only reply from the vampire, that now was fascinated bythe blood on his hand, unsure whether to lick it or not.

"Argh! The thought of what... what she could have done with you... " She sucked the air suddenly, her eyes wide with disgust. "It gives me the wiggins."

"Stop talking shit! And what the hell are you talking about?"

Then Buffy stared at him in a so direct and scary way that Spike couldn't help but gulp loudly and pray to the God of Vampires, maybe for the first time in his un-life, to have mercy on him.

"I'm talking about the fact," she yelled, her hands clenched into fists, as she advanced on him. Spike could swear he also saw a vein throbbing menacingly on her forehead. "That whatever happened, it wasn't me!"

Dabbing at his nose with one hand and absently wiping the other on the leather of his coat, Spike stared at her with a frown. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"That it wasn't me, you idiot!"

He snorted once. And because she kept being so serious about it, he burst out laughing.

"What the hell's the matter now? Does it sound funny to you?"

"Yeah, sure! Next time try to make up a better lie, kitten," he said, trying to hold back laughter. "Say you were drunk, say you had to say those things because you lost a bet... Or that you wanted to do it just to annoy me. But, fuck, don't tell me it wasn't you! I've never heard a worse excuse!"

She looked at him with those big eyes a bit confused and a little wounded, and Spike slowly stopped laughing. For a moment, he thought that with her hair gleaming under the lamplight, her lips swollen and reddened by their kissing, as she breathed heavily for their fight...

 _She was beautiful._

But it was only a moment, a bloody moment of weakness. Spike cleared his throat, turning serious. "What the fuck does it mean that it wasn't you? That it was your evil twin?" Had she got a split personality, now?

"What happened between us, Spike? Did we... did we have sex?" Now she was shaking his arms and getting upset.

"Oh, you wish ..." he said slyly.

"Oh, thank goodness." She released him. "But then, what happened with her? Why would you...?" She looked down, as if the answer to that question was written on hischest.

Spike looked confused, thanking God he didn't have a circulation. He would rather die (again) than blush in front of her. But what could he answer her? That he was as excited as a schoolboy by some stupid innuendo? That he hadn't been able to get her out of his head since then? In a few words, that he was a pathetic wanker desperate for a shag? He swallowed and tried to distract her.

"If it wasn't you, then ...?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Faith. The other Slayer."

"Ha! I knew you had an evil twin!" He pointed his finger at her, exultant.

TBC

Author's note: I hope the bit of forcing didn't disturb you. What can I say? He's an evil vamp, he's horny and mad. And this is about what he could have done to her in this situation.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to All4Spike for her help with English Grammar ^^ This chapter is my favourite of this story, but was a hell to translate!

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Yeah, the evil twin.

Spike had never heard about the body switch before. He must admit this second Slayer, who seemed to think and act outside the rules, had really had a brilliant idea. He'd have been eager to join her cause against his favourite Slayer, if only his plans hadn't changed so recently. But the possibilities of that incredible gadget! He would gladly take a ride in Angel's body, just to go around and be a complete jerk. It was time people realized Captain Large Forehead wasn't a saint. Ha! Take that!

Except that... well, they seemed to forgive everything he did. It was disturbing and, well, unfair. What was the fun in being an asshole, if there weren't consequences? But he could take Buffy to bed... and yeah, that was definitively a pro. He felt his lips stretch into a grin before his brain reactivated and separated itself from his groin. Shit! There was the bloody curse. Buffy wouldn't give herself to Angel. Spike sulked for a moment and then shivered. The only way to take her to bed would be... NO! No way he was switching bodies with Captain Cardboard! He would rather... well... he could switch bodies with her. Ohhh, that was surely a pleasant thought. He could switch his body with the Slayer's and have all her perky and sun-kissed goodies to himself, to handle as he pleased and... Mhhhh...

"It must really have been horrible. I-I mean... with the cell... and the guards... Like you were a real criminal."

Red's voice brought him back to reality. Spike strained his ears, while eavesdropping on the Slayer talking to her witchy friend. It wasn't curiosity that had taken him there, he kept telling himself. He just didn't give a fuck about her. He wanted to enjoy the misfortunes of his bitter enemy and know a little of her business. The Slayer life, sentimental or not, was so busy it was better than a bloody soap opera! That's why he'd secretly followed her the next day, and now he was listening intently outside her dorm room as Buffy poured her heart and her pathetic anguish into her story.

He was greatly enjoying it, while having a couple of smokes. The most interesting part was after she left Los Angeles, and Angel had come to SunnyHell with the intention to apologize, but he ended up beating up Riley. Ha! What a lovely thing to do. Spike rubbed his hands, thinking that after all, his GrandSire did something good every now and then. What a blissful thing to be able to punch Captain Cardboard himself, now. Not because Riley could have his hot Slayer and Spike couldn't. Noooo. That asshole deserved to be punched every day for his existence alone.

After all, he had to start with someone, to test the gift Adam had given him.

Spike smiled to himself, thinking that the night before, the Slayer hadn't even noticed his chip didn't work.

However, he had to admit that seeing her so vulnerable now, made him feel a bit weird. And he didn't know what to do with that. It didn't make him want to use these weaknesses against her... Didn't make him want to reach this Faith chick and congratulate her... And the more he thought back to that night and the more he realized, reliving those moments in slow motion, it wasn't only Faith's words and the way she had said them, that had had that strange effect on him. It wasn't just the way she had moved, so sure of herself, as if she was sex personified. If he looked back now, it was so obvious that it hadn't been Buffy.

But it was Buffy's voice and her lips which had spoken... Her hot hand, which had gently rested on his chest. And if Faith had never tried to seduce him, perhaps he would never have known the effect that Buffy could have on him. Because, yes, he knew he had always been obsessed with this Slayer, but for very different reasons... And now he wondered... if the attraction to her had always been there, deep down? But at this point, he couldn't tell.

Of one thing he was sure now. He was confused. Fucking confused. Because there was a small part of him that felt for her. Seeing her so vulnerable, it made him want to take her in his arms and comfort her between the sheets, in the only way she would probably ever let him comfort her...

Spike hated that thought and tried to fight it with all his being. He tried to fight it all the way into the sewer system and then, in his crypt. Tried to drown it in alcohol... But it was always there, the desire to be inside her body... And nothing he could do, nothing seemed to be able to erase it from his mind.

Buffy's hand slowly lowered the phone into its cradle and she stared at the object with an air of disappointment, as it reached its place with the characteristic sound. Why didn't Riley tell everyone to go to hell and come to her tonight? Just when vacation time had arrived and she had returned home for a few days. Her mother was travelling on business and they would have her house all to themselves ... that damn Initiative he worked for had ruined her plans. And now, who knows how many days she would have to wait before she could spend some quality time with her boyfriend.

And God, she needed Riley.

It had been a week since Spike... well, she wasn't even able to put a name to what had happened between them. Had he... ? No, he hadn't really... but he had forced her, hadn't he? He had seduced her and... She didn't understand. What the hell has got into that idiot's bleached head? Yeah, the anger made sense. She had to focus on anger, not on the sea of confusion he had left her with.

She had spent the entire week carefully trying to avoid him, and when she couldn't, she had threatened to end his pathetic un-life, in several ways. She also put to good use the numerous fighting practices Giles taught her, enjoying breaking the vampire's nose at various different angles. Because she wanted Spike to look at her with nothing but hatred, and forget their inexplicable encounter as soon as possible.

She loved Riley and she only wanted him, it was so simple. So why wasn't it so simple anymore? Why did she feel this desperate need to be intimate with her boyfriend as soon as possible, to feel okay with herself?

The truth was, it was far too long since last time they had made love... and after the problems occurred with Faith, things between them simply hadn't been the same. Buffy suppressed a growl at the thought that it was with Faith, and not with her, that Riley had gone to bed the last time! She needed to feel him close, to patch up the little rift that had arisen in their relationship.

A sigh escaped her slightly pouted lips, as she slipped under the covers and turned off the light. She hoped that Riley would soon be done with his patrol and could reach her later.

Her dream didn't make much sense, like all dreams, apart from those that were about Slayer's stuff. Well, the ones about Slayer's stuff were a category apart, full of premonitions and warnings from her predecessors, and other weird stuff. But here, there was the usual walk through the cemeteries, through forests and who knows what else. In dreams, everything blended and interwov. What a second before was the wall of a house abandoned in the woods,became the concrete wall of a mausoleum, and ten seconds later it was the outer wall of the Bronze.

She could feel her boyfriend's footsteps behind her, as he followed her through her patrol. At some point they changed, as if a vampire was now following her, haunting her. But again, it was all confused. Hands trying to grab and hurt her, became hands that caressed gently, and she sighted contentedly, glad she'd lost her high alert state for the moment. Under those strong hands she felt safe, she thought absently, as she relaxed and left behind all thoughts about demons that infested the small town of Sunnydale, unknown to the population.

Hands that brushed the outside of her legs, from her hips to her knees, delicate and fresh as a silk handkerchief, and then went down again to her ankles. But meanwhile, everything is meaningless and disconnected in these dreams, there also exists a strange logic that gives an immediate sense of things, a general sense. Sometimes you can't even put your finger on it, but you know it's there. So the fact that she was immediately without her pants in this dream, like she had gone to bed, did not seem at all strange. Nor did it seem strange that she couldn't distinguish who was touching her. Because, the more you're looking for a face or an explanation in a dream, the more it is withheld from you.

So the identity of who was touching her now wasn't important. What was important was the feeling that it was giving her, and Buffy focused on that. The fingers travelled up her legs and when they arrived at her thighs, they gave them a slight possessive squeeze. The gesture seemed vaguely familiar, even if her clouded mind couldn't tell who possessed this touch. If she was dreaming it, it meant that someone had touched her like that sometime, and that she'd probably liked it, because her subconscious was recalling it.

It was useless to ask too many questions. In her dreams, Riley's touch was always mingled with Angel's and lately also with Spike's. She even dreamed of Spike sometimes. She had started dreaming of him long before Faith's affair. He was part of her life, even if she didn't want him to be, so it was normal he was present in her subconscious in some ways. And in dreams, everything was mixed together. Spike's voice was tolerated, and his touch was even desired sometimes. Here, where Riley couldn't know. Where no one could judge her. Even herself. Because sometimes, she was the most severe judge of her own behaviour.

Here, in her dreams, everything was allowed. Here, where the voice of her conscience couldn't reach. She could let go as she wanted, without the fear of looking easy. So when she felt those hands open her legs wide, and a face gently brush against her sex, she didn't try to move away. In real life, in the same situation, she would have blushed and looked at Riley with a bit of uncertainty and fear. She would have wondered if he was doing it because he liked it, or only to return her favours. But in a dream, she didn't care, she could pretend he liked it a lot.

When he barely touched the folds of her sex with his wet tongue, she suddenly awoke to the intensity of feeling. She panted and groaned with her eyes tightly closed. Her back arched and her fingers clawed the sheet on either side of her body.

Holy shit, she thought, as she swallowed and blinked in the darkness, holding back a laugh. I'm not fucking dreaming!

"O God... Riley..." she whispered, while his tongue started its exploration. She reached down with her hands to fondle the head between her legs. He has made it, then, she thought absently, as she smiled and shut her eyes, burying her head in the pillow. Her fingers started to run over his carefully gelled strands, trying to slip through them... Mhhh... Since when did Riley use all this gel? The question soon faded into the back of her mind, while pleasure spread through her body and made her feel like molten lava.

"Buffy ..." he panted, and she hardly heard him among her groans. (Since when did Riley learn to do this so well?) His voice sounded odd, but she told herself it was just changed by excitement. After all, she didn't recognize her own voice in the sounds she was now emitting.

"Ri-ley ..." she choked, but this time she didn't get it wrong. The semi-animalistic growl he let out and jarred her whole body, certainly didn't came from her boyfriend.

"Riley my fucking ass!"

Finally realizing who was between her legs, Buffy screamed and tried to push aside the weight of the vampire over her body, but Spike's strength was equal to hers and she had to admit his skills had reduced her limbs to jelly.

"Get off this bed immediately!"

"And you, get off this body immediately, bitchy part of the Slayer!" He replied, as he hovered over her body and grabbed her arms, trying to hold her down. "I want my docile Slayer back, the one quivering under my care!"

Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped at this, trying to bring as much indignation as possible to her face, knowing he could see her in the darkness. "That _docile_ Slayer was thinking it was her boyfriend, _not_ a helpless vampire, that was doing those... uh... things, under the sheets," she finished with embarrassment.

"I'll show you helpless!" He raged, forcefully grabbing one of her hands and inserting it in his pants.

"Aaah!" she screamed, as her palm came in contact with the smooth skin of Spike's sex. "Stop it, stop it!" She said, withdrawing her hand as if she were scalded, and shaking her head repeatedly. "What the hell has gotten into you lately? Have your hormones gone crazy or something?"

There was silence for a moment, the only sounds in the room their gasps, as she lightly shook her arm and the freed hand to regain their full sensation. Then there was a click and the table lamp on her nightstand turned on.

She could see him now, his hard features partially buried in the shadows, the little light shining from his side. She could see the flash of uncertainty across his face, while his nostrils flared and his jaw flexed under her searching gaze. She saw his eyes wander for a few seconds to the area above her head, his face turning sideways into the darkness, almost if he was trying to escape the light of the lamp he had turned on, as if he was afraid it could reveal more than he wanted to show.

It was a long weird moment, almost surreal, while the hand that had touched him itched at her side and the feeling of being soaking wet between her legs, only a few centimetres from his groin, became more and more uncomfortable.

Then he straightened and turned back to look into her eyes. The determination she saw in them, mixed with other equally strong things that she couldn't decipher, made her tremble for a second under his gaze.

Perhaps he couldn't decipher them either, because instead of answering, he lowered his face towards hers. "Problem is, I want you so badly," he whispered against her lips, before kissing her so hungrily, almost desperately, that at first, his honest admission paralyzed her. But when he used his free hand to fondle between her legs, she couldn't help but moan and finally return the kiss. She moved her free hand behind his neck and pulled him to her. And just like it happens in dreams, what had made no sense suddenly did, and what had made sense before, lost it...

Author's note: I know, I know, it's too soon to make Buffy give in to him. At the moment I really can't write long stories (because RL and a very real three year old little boy are absorbing most of my time :) so I sped things up.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Spike was back in his crypt just before the sun started to rise. Once he'd closed the heavy door, he sauntered past his liquor stash with a grin, and headed straight to the stairs to the lower level.

The Slayer had finally given herself to him! He couldn't believe his luck...

He wanted to cover the bloody city with enthusiastic signs like, "Buffy Summers gave it to me" from wall to wall, to let the whole world know of it. But he quickly realized what a counter-productive strategy it was, if he wanted to repeat the experience.

Damn, only the thought of how scorching and slippery her quim had been for him, how her tight channel had enveloped his cock, and he was on the verge of orgasm again. Fuck. But he couldn't help imagining her golden forehead beaded with sweat as she shut her eyes tightly and concentrated on her own pleasure... her small, firm breasts, so soft... with those incredible turgid rosy tips, begging him to suck them into his mouth...

Her complete abandon had surprised him. Almost an uncontrollable hunger coming from inside, which had probably been suppressed for too long, and it had nearly devoured him. Well, at the end it had devoured him, literally, and it had been wonderful.

Stop doing that, he scolded himself sternly. Don't forget the bitch tortured you for a whole week, punching you in the nose and threatening you all the time. Yeah, recently she really had been her worst cold and acid self, like he didn't hate her with a passion already. But he loved how she struggled to hide her blushing, every time he came out with his usual innuendos. So he had continued to act like an asshole, just to make her pay.

Seeing her so distant, after what had happened between them in the alley, was totally unnerving. For a moment, he had thought about the possibility she could have asked Red to make her forget about it. And this had pissed him off enormously. A part of him wanted to keep harassing her, possibly reminding her of his touch in the most direct way, maybe inside her panties this time. The other part kept stubbornly yelling at him to pretend nothing had happened, like she was trying hard to do. It was better that way, a distance between them was what he wanted too. He was bloody conflicted between the two different choices. And as always, his instinct had prevailed.

She had returned home, her mother had left and had not returned, and fuck, it was the perfect opportunity... and what a night it had been. Her bloody soldier had never known how to pleasure her, but old Spikey knew how to give it to her good. Oh, he hoped he had ruined her for all the other men in the planet. This would surely make her miserable.

But now? Now that he'd got what he wanted, what was he going to do? The grin on his face abruptly disappeared as he pondered an answer to that particular question. A little voice inside his head suggested he could finally rid himself of her. That would be even easier now, with Mr. Ugly Hybrid potentially on his side. But another little voice was sure he could appreciate her body again and again before killing her, now that she was willing to share.

He was so taken with his thoughts, he didn't register the foreign presence in his crypt until he suddenly looked up and startled. God, he had almost yelled in fright. Bloody Frankenstein's monster.

"I've been thinking. About vampires." Wow, Adam loves to philosophize, Spike thought as he brought a hand to his chest and tried to calm his breathing. Adam was standing perfectly stationary, like a mannequin, as he stared at nothing in particular in front of him (or maybe he was just observing some cobweb on the wall, the vampire mused). Adam's face was also blank and still, like a mannequin's. In that moment, Spike wondered if it was the machine or the human in him speaking. The demon, well, he was sure the demon didn't want to philosophize too much. Demons simply wanted to destroy and create mayhem. "You fear death. Being immortal, you fear it more than those to whom it comes naturally. Vampires are a paradox. Demon in a human body. You walk in both worlds and belong to neither. I can relate."

"Uhmmm okay. Nice consideration. You're here for...?"

"It's time to put our plan into action," the hybrid half-bodybuilder replied, extending him some computer discs.

"Discs? Is this a joke?" The vampire asked, his eyes widening.

"You'll make sure that the Slayer has them."

"What's in there?" He gestured with his chin toward Adam's outstretched hand. "Got to tell her something, right? To make her want to see the contents. Don't think telling her 'hey, here's Patrick Dempsey's naked photo shoot with a cat in his arms' is enough to intrigue her." He thought about it for a moment. "Wait, maybe it would."

"Calm down vampire. I'll explain everything when the time comes. The important thing is she's going to be where and when I want her to be."

Buffy squinted and stretched her arms above her head, a satisfied smile illuminating her features as she awakened. "Mhhh" she murmured, moving to rise from her bed. "Who would have thought?" she asked herself, walking lazily down the hall toward the bathroom. But when her reflection on the mirror greeted her, her neck full of dark purple marks due to Spike's excessive attentions, her smile immediately vanished and reality crashed down on her shoulders like a ton of bricks.

"Oh my God. How do I explain those to Riley, now?"

Giles wasn't home, and that was bad, really really bad, because it meant she had plenty of time to think.

Hugging her leather jacket, Buffy idly wondered if she should stay there and wait for her Watcher. She hadn't any idea where he could be and what time he would return. She needed to talk to him. Spike's recent weirdness was troubling her. Apart from Spike's strange behaviour, she had some doubts that his chip was working properly. Thinking with a clear head about what happened last night, and even the week before in the alley, Buffy had realized there was more than one occasion the vampire had grabbed her wrists with just a little force, without consequences.

But waiting here, with nothing to do, was giving her too much to think about, and Buffy didn't want to think. She had to keep busy. Thinking about Spike or Riley only gave her a monstrous headache. She didn't know what to do with Riley. She hadn't ever been unfaithful to anyone, she wasn't that kind of girl! And her good sense told her, if she desired another man, she had to finish with her boyfriend.

She loved Riley, she cared for him, and he didn't deserve this. But she was reluctant to leave the safety Riley could give her. And for what? Riley could give her a future and she was sure she loved him. Giving in to Spike was a mistake and it had nothing to do with her heart's desires. And talking about Spike, if his chip didn't work anymore or he had found a way to get rid of it, odds were he would turn against her. He'll be evil and she'd had to stake him. But if those were his intentions, why hadn't he left? Why was he still in Sunnydale?

" _Problem is, I want you so badly"_

The memory of his words and how he had looked at her made Buffy's insides tremble and her heart go wild. Had he stayed for her? To have some kind of revenge? Seduce her instead of killing her? The possibility gave her the creeps. Spike was a very dangerous and unpredictable vampire, and the fact now he seemed so attracted to her, certainly didn't make her jump for joy. And yet ... yet he had not hurt her. Buffy shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if she hadn't given in. Would he have taken her by force? How far was he prepared to go, to get what he wanted? Her common sense and her past experiences told her not to trust Spike. If she couldn't trust a vampire who had sworn to love her, how could she give Spike the benefit of the doubt?

No, she had to be clear with him. And staying here didn't do her any good. Buffy nodded to herself resolutely and began walking back the way she'd come. Perhaps she could study a little, remedy that ugly Din literature. Study would definitely keep her busy.

Careful to follow a perfectly straight path, and hold his bloody hand stable, Spike proceeded with his work. He clenched his jaw in concentration, passage after passage. Each careful movement of his hand was the result of years of study and experience. He pulled his head back to look at his work with a critical eye and blew on the wet paint to speed up the drying process.

The crypt's door swung open suddenly, thundering against the stone wall, startling him and causing him to drop the still open bottle of black nail polish on the floor.

"Bloody buggering fuck!"

The vampire put a hand on his forehead and watched in horror as a big black stain inexorably spread out on the concrete floor. "Whoever you are, I hope you've got a _really_ good reason for coming into my home like this, because if you haven't, I'm sorry but you'll meet a very slow and painful death at my hands very soon." He slowly looked up and his horror turned into curiosity at the sight of a shaken gray-skinned horned demon.

"Sgnarlfrrgnack ukav badundagnrock!" the demon yelled in his own language. Spike frowned and walked over to better inspect it. It had a sharp bone protruding from both its shoulders, and also its spine protruded partly from its back, like some dinosaurs you can see in textbooks. At the sides of its face there were two large curved horns, instead of ears. The demon kept shouting and waving its hands, looking clearly helpless, while Spike stared at him with a big smile on his face.

"The fuck are you doing in a bloody Fyarl body, mate?"

The demon stopped struggling. "Can you understand me?"

"Of course I understand you, Giles." The blonde vampire admitted, looking for a mop to clean the floor.

"I'm speaking English?"

"No, you're talking Fyarl. I happen to speak Fyarl. And... by the way, why the hell are you suddenly a Fyarl demon? You just come over all demony this morning?" He crouched down on the floor to clean up the dense and sticky stain. "Shit. How the hell do I clean this now? "

"With some alcohol?" The demon suggested.

"Yeah, sure," Spike snapped, "you think a vampire casually keeps something highly flammable like alcohol in his home? I'm not such an idiot."

Giles' gaze jumped quickly to the numerous liquor bottles that the vampire kept in a corner of the crypt and shrugged, but said instead, "But you're idiot enough to paint your nails."

Spike frowned and thought for a moment. "You know what? Fuck alcohol. I'll put down a carpet. After all, this floor is just disgusting. I'll put a big fucking carpet on it. I'll make this fucking hole the poshest crypt of all time."

Giles cleared his throat to catch Spike's attention again. "Getting back on topic. As a matter of fact, yes, I just woke in a motel room this morning, like this, thanks to Ethan Rayne. You have to help me find him. He must undo this and then he needs a..."

Spike cocked an eyebrow. "And I'm just supposed to help you out of the evilness of my heart?"

"Well, for starters, you can reciprocate the hospitality I provided you for the last few months."

"Ha! Such hospitality that was! If I really want to reciprocate, and I'm still not sure about it, I think I could let you get settled here for a while. You know, I've a set of chains right there. Pity I don't possess a bloody bathtub. But tell me, what were you doing in a bloody motel room last night, you old lecher? Having some fun, eh?"

The Fyarl took a step backward, defensively. "He asked me to join him for a drink, for old times' sake. And I was stupid enough to go along and let him poison me, as if I didn't know who he is."

Spike's mouth twisted into a grimace. "How very wicked. Why have I never thought of that?"

Author's note: some quotes from "A New Man". Adam's line about vampire and fear is from "Who are you".

And now you know why Spike covered all the crypt floor with carpets!

Last year Patrick Dempsey did a famous commercial with a cat in his arms, so that's why there's the line about him. He was way toooo cute in it. Look here :)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sunnydale's streets weren't busy at night. The population could be as beautifully unaware as you like about the demonic presence in its city, but wasn't stupid. Young people knew they should be careful at night, always keeping their eyes open and maybe a cross in their pocket. But there were a couple of places open at night that were quite safe, where people could meet up and have some fun. Just like outside a nice little pub where a bunch of guys were currently laughing and chattering affably, drinks in their hands and grins on their young faces, when a rather dilapidated grey Citroen passed by and caught their attention.

"Look at that car, Tom! They're still driving around!"

"I bet it's some codger."

"No way, a codger wouldn't drive like that, unless he's completely drunk."

"Whatcha know about that? Ever seen an old drunk driving?"

"Could ask you the same question."

The car pulled up on the sidewalk, not far from the group.

"Let's see who's coming out, guys," one of the boys said. But instead of an old drunk, it was a rather strange gray creature with horns on its head which slowly got out of the car. The guys kept staring as the creature casually went to the ATM to make a withdrawal, and they looked at each other, speechless. After a mutual look at their glasses' contents, they decided to leave them on the table. Nothing good could come from finishing them.

"Pull up! Pull up!" Giles yelled in Fyarl, wildly gesturing toward the side.

"What's up, mate?"

Spike's boot sank against the pedal, and the vampire watched as the demon got out of the car and started running on the sidewalk. It snarled and growled with its hands in the air for a minute, scaring people. Once the street was deserted, Giles slowly came back to the car.

The door opened and closed. Then, utter silence.

"Did you have fun?" Spike asked after a moment, looking at Giles out the corner of his eye. His hands still on the steering wheel.

"Very much," the demon replied in Fyarl with a satisfied smile. "I had a score to settle."

A dark eyebrow rose on the vampire face. "Giles has a score to settle?"

"He scratched my car in the car park and walked away like nothing happened."

Spike raised the other eyebrow too.

"Hey! It's old, but it's treated well. And I'm very fond of it."

"Oh, I see," Spike said, resume his driving. "I thought he stole your place in the supermarket queue."

Things were getting interesting. Giles' behaviour had changed. It was like he was back in his thirties, when his sense of fun didn't contemplate sniffing mould from very old books. Point was, now the man had a great energy and a great strength to vent, all his repressed desires making themselves felt.

Well... Giles wanted some action? Wanted to feel useful and needed? Spike knew the perfect way to make him feel better.

The Citroen hit the street with a roar and the vampire grinned to himself, looking forward to their next stop.

Spike was done with his Scotch the moment Giles was, and he slammed his glass down on the counter.

"Willy!"

The bartender rose from behind the counter, smoothing his hair back. "Yes Sir!" he promptly said, trying to ignore the dozen battered and wailing demons lying on the floor of the bar, just behind them.

"Come here and fill our victory cup. Come to celebrate with us," the vampire ordered him.

As the pathetic human was busy behind the counter, Giles stared thoughtfully into his glass.

"To girls that like to tease," Spike said, rising his glass. "But sometimes they give it to you," he added after a moment.

Giles looked at him curiously. "It's always about women, eh?"

The vampire shrugged and the two demons drank in silence as Willy pretended to do the same. Spike grinned to himself, as he knew it very well. He let Willy be, gave the guy the impression he was safe, but the moment he heard the bartender splashing the liquor down the drain, he stood up from his stool. He leisurely rounded the counter, his hands in his pockets. When Willy noticed, Spike was already in front of him. Gasping and flattening against the closest vertical surface in the hope to suddenly become invisible, did nothing to impress the vampire.

"Now you'll drink two glasses for each glass you pretended to drink 'til now." The bartender's eye went comically wide, and the vampire's smile widened as well. "Come on Willy, you know the rules."

"Please! I'm fond of my liver, you know? And also of my miserable life."

"It's nothing, really." The vampire sighed theatrically and uncorked a bottle, filling a clean glass. "In the worst case, they'll simply put a sign on the door tomorrow, reading new staff needed. It's no big."

"But the place is mine!"

"Oh, I can already see tomorrow headlines: 'Alcohol coma kills another bartender'." Spike approached Willy with the glass in his hand.

"Please, please, don't!"

Pushing the man forward with one hand on his lower back, Spike planted the glass to Willy's mouth and forced him to drink. Willy grabbed Spike's wrists, trying to stop him, but it was an instinctive act, rather than a efficient one, and Spike watched with satisfaction as the barman spat and coughed, and half the contents of the glass ran down his shirt.

"You know?" Giles said, "If that was an attempt to prove you're still a bad guy, it was pretty pathetic. The Slayer hurts him worse when she comes here for information."

"Hey! Whose side are you on?" Willy said, his voice high and strangled.

Spike smiled at the man's fear for what he could do to him. Yeah, he could prove his point to the Fyarl, make the guy suffer a little, but truth was he didn't feel like being too evil now. The smell of Willy's fear was enough to fatten his ego. So he released the worm and took a step backward.

"Mhh, I'd love to see it," Spike admitted, keeping his smile in place. The image of the Slayer savagely beating Willy was a very seductive sight. He could use it later when ... Oh, and don't forget the ankle high boots, with stiletto heels to make him eat! And the whip. Yes, definitely the whip. He turned and walked back, the newly uncorked bottle firmly in his hand.

Willy sighed and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Spike liked to think the bartender knew how he enjoyed teasing him and finding new ways to not pay for a few bottles, but he was just too cowardly to be self-assertive. Or he was just an idiot.

Anyway, that night Spike was having a ball, finally free from constraints. There wasn't a bloody chip to curb his wickedness anymore and no fucking Slayer, or her damned cronies, to annoy him to no end. He had already obtained what he wanted from the Slayer and he didn't have to prove to anyone he was still bad. Knowing he could still be evil, if he wanted to, was enough to him. And it was nice to have this new version of Giles with him for a few days, to drive away the boredom.

Not that he was bored now! Being evil again wasn't boring. He was just studying new plans, so manynew evil plans, that would see the light in the coming days. It was just he hadn't decided yet what they were.

As soon as they heard the crypt door slamming, Giles jumped up from the couch and ran to hide in a corner, behind a blanket.

Footsteps, three people. Three young people. Two girls and a boy. And that smell... Spike knew it was her, even before seeing her. The fact she chose to come with her friends, filled him with pride. It meant she was still scared of him, or that she didn't want to be alone with him in the same room, for fear of what might happen.

What a sin. He'd gladly tend to her in front of Giles.

"Hey, Fang-face," Xander addressed him. "You, who still hang out in the company of demons, have you heard about a demon who could have kidnapped or injured Mr. Giles?"

The vampire's head snapped up and Spike took on its most innocent expression. "What happened to the old bookworm?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Buffy answered, all business-girl. Of course, she felt stronger with her friends. But when she would be alone, later...

"Look, I know you don't give a rat's ass about anything, and probably you believe Mr. Giles is just a poor semi-alcoholic forty-year-old having a middle age crisis, unemployed and with nothing to do..."

"Hey, I never said that." Spike shrugged and showed his palms, while a barely concealed snarl came from the back of the crypt.

"What's there?" Xander snapped defensively.

"Oh nothing, I found a stray on the street and I brought it home."

"To eat it?" Buffy asked, grimacing.

"To provide some company. I've got a heart, you know, and I feel _so lonely_ lately. Why don't you come here sometimes, Slayer? I'm sure we can find something to do to have some fun together." He flashed her a grin.

"Yeah, sure. _I_ know I'll have fun, breaking every single bone in your body. You? I don't think so."

"Oh. I bet you can grind me good. No wait, I know you can. And you know I don't break so easily..." Spike said with a leer.

"A-hem! It seems Spike has no useful information to share with us. I say we keep searching elsewhere. Spike, if you find out something, you know where to find us." With that, Buffy turned and left the crypt in a hurry.

 _Sure, I know where to find you, sweetheart,_ Spike thought.

Willow and Xander looked surprised. They looked at each other and shrugged.

"You heard her," Xander said, and proceeded towards the crypt exit behind Willow.

"Oi!" Spike called after them. "Nobody had the thought that this mysterious demon who's loose in SunnyHell could be your Mr. Giles, transformed by some evil wizard?"

A beat. Then Xander's voice: "Spike, don't say shit."

Spike shrugged and muttered to himself. "Well, I tried."

The sound of the front door being closed echoed through the closed space, and after a while, he felt movement down the crypt.

"So I'm just a poor semi-alcoholic forty-year-old having a middle aged crisis, unemployed and with nothing to do?"

Spike turned toward the voice and saw the Fyarl standing, fists clenched, and the blanket which had concealed it at its feet.

"Have I at least a superpower or a special ability, as a Fyarl demon?"

Spike's head leaned back as he searched though his memory. "Um ... there's that mucus thing..."

Giles shook his head and went forward, cursing the ungrateful youth. Spike watched him stumble, his feet still tangled in the blanket, and fell to the floor, nose first.

Discovering that the demon that had terrorized the city for days had been none other than Mr. Giles, was really a surprise. As was the performance that said Watcher was now giving on the stage at The Bronze, microphone and a guitar in hand, to celebrate his body's return to its original form. (Who knew Giles could sing?) The thing creeped her out too much to let her grasp what he was singing, but she caught something like, "I've got to warn Buffy / There's every chance she might be next / Xander, help Willow / And try not to bleed on my couch. I've just had it steam-cleaned."

Okay, definitely drunk.

Not to mention the fact that now Giles and Spike was suddenly getting along like two good old friends gave her the shivers. That afternoon, she'd also heard a spirited discussion between them about Dawson's Creek.

She had been really worried about Giles' disappearance. She'd been afraid someone could have harmed him or that the man had been kidnapped by some demon. Although they had been a little distant lately, Giles was a very important figure for her. He was like a father. If she were to marry one day... she would want him to take her to the altar. So she had gone around the whole damn town kicking ass, to find out what happened to him. She had questioned people for days... hellish days. But fortunately, in the end, it was all sorted out in the best way, when Spike had mentioned Ethan Rayne's name and Riley had helped her track down the pest .

She couldn't believe Spike had helped them without asking anything in return. Even if she suspected Giles had given him a few hundred bucks under the counter. However, the fact that the vampire had been helping them for a while remained, in exchange for money or not, and this was the origin of the questions. She doubted Spike was becoming good, and she wondered if he was up to something. Like he was trying to buy their confidence a bit at a time, only to betray them at the end of the game. Because with Spike, you _never_ knew what to expect.

Well, she wasn't afraid of him. He could try to cheat on them, she was ready to kick his ass. She was definitely ready. God, she _craved_ to kick his ass once and for all. She was only waiting for the perfect moment to avenge all the shit he had made her go through all these years. She was leaving him free to roam only to get that perfect moment. If he took a misstep, she would be on him in a second. She would stake him after torturing him for months, make him her personal slave or something. Make him do all the laundry or the Summers' house cleaning. Well, she would surely find something for him to do. She could always shove a stick up his ass and use him as a mop to clean the house.

She heartily _hoped_ he did something wrong, so she could enslave him and use him for her own pleasure. Err, _not_ for her own pleasure! She wanted to say 'for her good'. Damn, her brain had to stop going haywire when she thought of him! After they had slept together she could no longer think of him without imagining him naked, or her mind connecting him to a dozen naughty ideas! She really needed to stake him, so she could put an end to all those confusing thoughts. Although a small part of her, the one that perhaps had warmed to him a little over the years, the one that found him attractive and that had rejoiced when she'd been in his arms... well, that small part wouldn't approve if she killed him. But Buffy would convince it, she would tell it it was stupid, that Spike and the smooches would only lead to bad things. Very bad things. Evil things. Bad luck. Betrayals. End of her relationship with-

"I'm sorry for yesterday, sweetheart... I'm really sorry I couldn't come." Riley's voice make her abruptly leave that train of thought. Guiltily. So, what was she supposed to do? For the umpteenth time he had let her down about their date. What should she feel about that? It make her feel better and annoyed her at the same time. Feel better because being with Riley lately had become difficult... and she was often distracted in his presence. And it bothered her, because she knew that if she wanted to return things to the way they were before, and remove Spike from her mind, they had to see each other as often as possible.

Fuck Spike and his sexy smiles. She had an awesome boyfriend before her eyes. A _living_ boyfriend, a kind and considerate one, and he truly loved her. She wanted nothing more than that, _right_? Well, that wasn't entirely the truth, but she would work on it. And damn, she wouldn't listen to the small part of her brain, the one drooling after Spike, and that seems to be unable just to mind its own business. It kept blathering how this was only a desperate attempt to restore a kind of order in her life, that it was obvious she no longer loved Riley (if she still loved him, she wouldn't go to bed with someone else!), that their relationship was falling apart and the only thing she really wanted right now was to handcuff Spike to a bed and show him who was the dominant Slayer! Damn, stupid little voice.

Riley was her safe haven. Staying with Riley would help her understand things, would clear up her mind. "Don't worry about it, honey. I guess there will be other times for us," she replied to him, not very convinced, as she tried to hide the fact she was stiffening in his embrace. She wanted to be able to look into his eyes and smile at him affectionately, reassuring him that everything was all right. But she couldn't.

"It's just... We didn't have so much time to be together, after what happened with Faith, and-"

"For the love of God, please stop that mushy act. Did nobody ever tell you how boring you two are together?" Spike's sardonic voice suddenly came from behind them, raising the hair on the nape of her neck. _Speaking of the devil..._ Yeah, the devil that wanted to ruin her life.

Buffy's eye widened, and she wanted nothing more than to grab the platinum vampire's neck and choke him once and for all. Pity it wouldn't kill him, since he didn't breathe, but she would take a little satisfaction in the act. "Spike?" Buffy's voice trembled with ill-concealed anger, as she took a step back and left Riley's warm and safe embrace. "How about you mind your own business, _once in a while_?"

"Oh, trouble in paradise?"

It all happened in a moment. Riley sprang into action in a flash, launching himself toward Spike. Before Buffy could do anything, the vampire found his back against a column, a big strong human hand around his throat.

"Buffy's right, Spike. Why don't you take a ride somewhere, as far from here as possible? I've yet to begin patrolling tonight , and I've got a brand new stake to roll out. You don't want to be the first to test it, right?"

Alarmed, Buffy joined them immediately, squeezing Riley's arm with both hands. "What are you doing?"

"What you should have done long ago," Riley said.

Spike hardened his expression and looked at him angrily, then pushed the soldier away from him with great force. The act sent Riley against other people and the soldier tumbled to the ground, creating an empty space around them.

"What?" Riley yelled, truly bewildered.

Spike was on him in a second and started to punch him viciously.

Buffy run after them and tried to hold Spike back. "Stop it!" she screamed. "I've had enough! Leave him alone!" What the hell were they doing? she thought. A testosterone war? They just needed a ring with mud and...

"I'm sick of this idiot! It's time he learned what a master vampire is capable of! OW!" Spike turned, putting a hand to his head where Buffy had just hit him. "Whose side are you on?"

"What do you think?" Slap. "Idiot!" Side kick that made him lose his balance, sending him to the ground. "I'll tell you once, Spike. Leave my boyfriend alone." Kick on his jaw.

Spike was lying on all fours, one hand resting against the side of his face Buffy had just hit. Slowly, he turned his head and gave her an incredulous look, mixed with a dose of wounded pride and two doses of murderous rage, and Buffy's blood ran cold. Then Spike's ever so expressive eyes widened further and he suddenly jumped, throwing himself over her. Buffy found herself shoved to the ground, her body rolling together with Spike's on the dirty floor.

"Buffy!" screamed Riley, but Buffy didn't want his help. She wanted him desperately out of this.

"Go away! Go call Giles!" She said the first thing that came to mind.

"Giles? What the hell...? Let me help you..."

"Riley, for God's sake, this is between me and Spike. Go away." And with that, she set off in pursuit of Spike, who was already up and racing out of the club.

TBC

Author's note: the original scene with Giles scaring people on the street as a Fyarl, was with Maggie Walsh. Since Professor Walsh is already dead at this point of the story (Adam is already escaped from the Initiative), I had to adapt things.

Giles's song is from Restless (4x22).


	6. Chapter 6

_Many thanks to All4Spike, who really helps me a lot with every chapter, making sure it's all written correctly._

Chapter 6

Where the hell did he go? Buffy proceeded through Sunnydale's dark streets, looking for any traces Spike could have left. She was sure he had gone that way...

The night air whispered softly behind her and a second later, she found herself wrapped in Spike's arms. Damn! He had gone and grabbed her from behind, without giving her time to turn around. So now, she couldn't see him, but could feel his fresh breath on her neck; his canines hovering over her flesh, while he kept her in a deadly grip. Yeah, she could grab his arm and pull, flip him over, but her body was just too comfortable like this and didn't want to cooperate. Treacherous little thing. She tried to move and Spike tightened his grip even more. A sudden warmth made itself feel between her legs and Buffy felt ashamed of her reaction.

"You know, it'd be a moment..." he said, nuzzling the flushed skin of the neck. "You have no idea how much I want to drink your blood... but the desire to have your body is even greater..." he added, starting to kiss her neck, and the feel of his cold, moist lips obscured almost everything.

Buffy fought her excitement with determination, and pretended to melt under his words. The moment he dropped his guard, she elbowed him, swiftly turned in his embrace and pushed him away. Then she pulled out a stake from her jacket and threatened him with it.

"I don't know what you're playing at, Spike, but it's a very dangerous game." They began to circle and Spike showed her his game face.

"Don't want to kill you, kitten. Just want you to stay away from the soldier boy."

"The soldier boy is my _boyfriend_ , if you hadn't noticed!" Or at least, he was for the time being, she thought. But his nerve! How could he ask her to stay away from her boyfriend? Buffy took deep breaths to stay calm. If she let her emotions get the better of her, she'd only be playing his game.

"And your boyfriend knows we went to bed together, huh?"

The Slayer's free hand clenched. "What the hell do you want, Spike?"

His lips wore his usual smug smile, although it appeared a bit different on his game face. "I want you." He simply said.

She was sure that, at that point, the size of her eyes bordered on comical. "You really want to ruin my life, huh? But, apart from the fact I'll never be yours... what makes you think, now that you're no longer harmless, that I'll let you go just like that?"

He grinned, amused, and tilted his head to one side. "Of course, now that I'm chip-less, I admit some unspoiled paradise without a Slayer in it has some appeal... Could feed on natives and built me an army of vampires or something. But, well, they're all skin and bones and eat all those insects... Not very nutritios, are they? Fuck, I can taste what they eat. And then I'll get too bored without you."

She rolled her eyes. "What's this, your love's declaration?"

"No, not love. Just some healthy sex, if you like."

" _Spike_."

"Oh, come on. You want me too."

"Ha! You're so pathetic."

"I may be pathetic, but at least I don't pretend to be what I'm not." He thought a moment about it and then added. "Well, aside from being sober. Yes, I did pretend to be sober a couple of times." He shook his head. "What I mean is, you have to stop pretending you're not attracted to me. Because even the postman could see it!" He finished, hitting his chest with his fist. The postman? What the hell was he saying?

Buffy looked around, unsure of what to say. Lying, to him or to herself, really didn't make much sense at that point. She had to resign herself to the fact that her relationship with Riley had become a farce, but she owed Riley protection against Spike, at least. And the thought that she was also leaving him to protect him, made her feel a bit less like a worm. God, what did she do? She had been so sure she loved him, that she had found the right person. Or maybe she had just convinced herself of it. And now? Was this mess really all Spike's fault, or were she and Riley just destined to split? However, musing on these thoughts was useless now. What was done was done. "Okay, I'll leave Riley. But you have to leave him out of this. If I find out you hurt him..."

"Relax kitten. I'm not going to hurt him, except in self-defense."

"Yeah, like tonight?"

He grinned. "Exactly."

She'd really make him pay for this, for all his bravado and his smugness and his stupid threats. Oh yeah. She could already picture using him as a mop to wash the floor with his hair. "So, how is it? Come to bed with me, or I'll kill your friends?"

He turned serious. "No. None of that."

"For Pete's sake." She growled. "What on earth is going on in that stupid head of yours?"

Again the surreal silence, as had happened that night, before they had gone to bed together, when he had appeared so strangely vulnerable and human.

"Your friends are safe, don't worry," he said, and with that he turned and started to walk away from her.

"And with Adam?"

He turned with a questioning look.

The Slayer approached him slowly. "I need to know if you're with us against this Adam. We need... all the allies possible. You've already been in the Initiative and you know how to get about in there."

Spike snorted. "And what makes you think...?" he tilted his head and looked at her with curiosity.

"Okay, forget it. You wouldn't be very useful anyway." She turned and headed in the direction they had come from. What the hell was she thinking? Why did she ask him to help them? It was enough to know which side he was on, she didn't need his help.

"Wait." He stopped her and began rummaging in his duster pockets, as if searching for something. After a few seconds, he pulled out a couple of computer disks. "The Initiative layouts are in here," he said, as he walked slowly toward her. At her confused look, he rolled his eyes and added, "Adam wanted you to have them."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." But when Buffy reached out to grab the disks, he pulled back his hand and smiled. "A-ha. First, tell me one thing. Why did you go back to being a bitch with me? "

"I went back? Ha! I never stopped." She reached out again and Spike pulled his hand back.

"Buffy." He looked at her seriously.

"God, what did you expect?" She snapped. "That after having taken advantage of me-"

"Took advantage of you, my arse! It seems to me you had a good time too!" His eyes was burning into her.

"Damn, Spike. It was... a mistake. Something that shouldn't have happened. It was all because of Faith's idiotic behavior." Talking about it was starting to upset her and she hated it, because she knew he got off on it. The jerk!

"Idiotic behavior my ass! The girl knew better than you, how to appreciate what was in front of her."

"Oh yeah, and what was in front of her? A neutralized pathetic vampire?"

Something moved in his features while his jaw clenched at her insult, and Buffy absently found it sexy. "You know, I don't think I should give you these disks after all." He said smiling, surprising her. He hid the offending objects behind his back and looked at her with a playful defiance.

"Hey!" Buffy was on him in a second, trying to get the disks from him. Spike lifted them into the air above his head, smiling victoriously, and she tried to reach them in vain. "You're such a jerk!" She complained, and Spike's free arm grabbed her waist, pulling her close.

"You sure it was a mistake?"

Buffy desperately tried to put a distance between them, pressing her palms against his chest (oh, but there are pecs in there...), and she was sure her eyes were wide from the sudden physical contact with his body. When his face started to get too close, she felt herself burning and made to slap him, but he quickly grabbed her hand.

"It wasn't a mistake, for me. I knew _exactly_ who was in front of me," he whispered in her ear as she tilted her head to the side to avoid contact with his face.

No, Buffy. Don't let him win! Don't yield to his advances like a stupid cat in heat. Then he put the disks in her jacket pocket and let her go. She felt lighter, finally able to put a physical distance between them. Being so close to him made her heart race, and she couldn't think properly. Damn. Just as she was walking away, Spike called after her.

"I know where Adam is hiding."

Buffy turned around immediately. The asshole! "You knew it all this time and you're telling me now?" _Hell, if she would make him pay. A mop stick in his butt and a Swiffer handle between his teeth! And while he was at it, he could do all the cleaning stark naked! While she was happily whipping him._

Spike had the courage to look outraged. "Hey! I just found out! Have a little trust in me."

"I will never trust you, Spike." She stated harshly.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, do as you please. But remember, it was you to ask if I wanted to be on your side."

"Okay, just tell me what you know. Actually, no, tell me what Adam wanted from you. It was Adam who removed your chip?"

At this, he stared into her eyes, in a way so intense it make her weak in the knees. "The guy came to my crypt some time ago and asked me to help him sabotage you. In return, he would help me to remove the chip," he finished, his index finger pointing the side of his head.

"And you told him 'yes', of course?" She asked him with a defiant look.

He frowned. "Hey, I had to play double cross to understand what he had in mind. And you can't imagine how it was with that chip... not being able to feed or to defend myself... Being a laughing stock."

It was suspicious, of course. Certainly, Spike had everything to gain from playing a double cross. According to him, he had done it because he hadn't yet decided which side to be on. The annoying little voice in her head whispered that it was the same thing she was doing now, keeping herself halfway between Riley and Spike until she decided which side to take. The awful feeling of being a worm flooded her suddenly, making her stomach knot. No, she wasn't like that! She was... Okay, Spike had won. She would leave Riley.

"Hey, no scam here. I promise," he said, placing a hand to his heart.

"Why does Adam want me to have these disks?" She asked instead, trying to focus on practical issues. The decision about how she was going to dump Riley could wait. "What does he want from me? I thought he simply wanted to kill me."

The vampire's azure eyes wandered down. "I think he wants you to destroy the Initiative."

"What? He wants to destroy what created him? "

"He has this majestic idea of creating a new breed. Hybrids, a mixture of human, demon and robot. And of course, he needs parts." Then he looked at her through narrowed and uncertain eyes. "I think a rebellion, is what he wants. A rebellion against humans. There are rumors, he's already recruited several demons."

"What do you mean, he needs parts?"

Spike raised both his eyebrows. "Have you seen his face?"

"Oh my God ..." Buffy put a hand over her mouth. "He wants to destroy us... to re-use our parts? Wow. But what's my role in all this?"

"Well, he has to balance the forces. He needs some demon parts too."

"This is all kind of bad. I really don't know how we'll make it this time. Do you have any idea what his weaknesses are?"

The vampire smiled. "Don't worry your pretty head over it, little slayer. Since you care so much, I might decide to help you."

"Ha!" she said incredulously. "As if that settles everything. And I really can't trust a moody double agent vampire."

"Well, I have no interest in letting him win or in getting me cut into pieces. And you're forgetting I'm more than willing to make that bunch of crazy surgeons pay for what they did to me."

Buffy thought about it for a moment. Well, Spike was right. Now that his chip had been removed, he no longer had any interest in working for Adam. It didn't suit him any more. And that meant they could work together, with proper precautions.

She heard faint footsteps in the distance and turned to see Riley and Giles running toward her. Uh? Oh God, she had asked Riley to warn Giles and she had completely forgotten.

"See you tomorrow at your Watcher's, then?" Spike asked.

She watched the two figures approaching, and when she turned to Spike to answer him, he was gone.

"Buffy? Are you all right?" Giles asked as soon as he joined her, the anxiety evident in his voice.

"Yes, everything is under control." She said a bit confused.

"What happened? Why did Spike attack Riley? Is his chip not working properly?" Giles asked, and Buffy closed her eyes, feeling that a big headache was due soon. Of course, Riley had told Giles that Spike had hit him without triggering the chip and... Now, how the hell could she explain that... um ... she knew about it but hadn't warned them? Maybe... she could pretend she'd just discovered it too?

"Did you know about his chip, Buffy? Why didn't you tell me?" Riley asked a little resentfully, rubbing his jaw where Spike had hit him hard. Buffy realized that Riley probably wouldn't even have faced Spike if he'd known there wasn't a chip to control him anymore, and that surprised her. She had never thought Riley was that kind of person.

"Yes, I knew... but it's all under my control," she said to Giles. "I didn't tell you because I thought it wasn't necessary."

"It wasn't necessary!" Giles said incredulously.

Buffy blinked and thought quickly. "When he told me, I thought he was bluffing. Lately he has really done nothing wrong, so I had no proof. Come on, if I were to believe all the shit Spike says... I'd be an idiot. And, excuse me, but didn't you notice anything? You lived with him for days, didn't you?"

Giles startled, caught off guard. "I didn't realize he... well, he didn't do anything wrong, indeed. Apart from threatening Willy a bit, which is actually something a bit evil, but ... well, at the time I didn't think about it."

"Threatening Willy isn't _evil_ , Mr. Giles. It's kinda... a human duty." Buffy looked around, briefly wondering if Spike was hiding somewhere and was listening to them. "Listen, Spike told me he double crossed Adam to gather information for us. He's helping us. Certainly, he's doing it for his personal gain as well, since Adam has removed his chip in exchange for his cooperation, but I was wondering if ... well, if Spike could be helpful to defeat the Initiative."

"What if that's Adam's idea? Infiltrate Spike within us, to ensure it all goes according to plan?" Riley offered.

"In fact, we don't know. And I assure you I'll keep my eyes open," Buffy said. "But now it's too late to talk about it. I think we can talk more tomorrow."

They agreed to meet the next afternoon at Giles apartment. Buffy refused Giles's offer of a ride home in his car, preferring to walk. They said their goodbyes and the trio broke up, Giles in one direction and Riley walking with her in the other.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

God, she was tired of this. Of having to justify all of her actions. Buffy's head snapped up toward her boyfriend's face. Why did he have to be so tall? Her neck ached every time she looked at him. Spike, on the other hand ... Argh! Stop thinking about him. "Tell you what?"

"About Spike?"

Her heart skipped a beat, or maybe two or three, at the thought that Riley had somehow discovered what had happened between her and Spike. And now that they were finally alone, he wanted to face her about it.

What should she do? Would she deny it or admit the truth? ' _At least I don't pretend to be what I'm not_ ', Spike words came to taunt her. To keep lying to Riley at that point meant adding insult to injury. She couldn't pretend anymore that things had not changed between them, that she was the perfect girlfriend, faithful and loyal. She had continued to lie - well, to _omit_ the truth - in hopes of saving their relationship. But a relationship should be based on honesty, not on a castle of unsaid things, she reflected. No, they had to be honest with each other. Things between them didn't work anymore and that wasn't Spike's fault. Spike had only taken advantage of the fracture in their relationship and had enlarged it, but it wasn't the reason for their breakup. That's why she didn't want to tell Riley about her and Spike. She didn't want Riley to take it out on Spike and tried to kill him for it.

"About his chip?" Riley offered, since she didn't answer his question.

"Oh ..." Her legs almost gave way with relief. Faith, Adam, Giles with his disappearance, Riley, Spike... it looked like they were all working to make her go crazy, lately.

"I could tell the army, make sure somebody replaced it. And we would have their help to capture him... "

Buffy shook her head. Riley always wanted to handle things with the army. Well, he had been trained to think like that. However, the thought she had to be honest with him kept going around in her head, nudging her now and then, telling her to get rid of that burden.

"Riley, I have to tell you something..." she began, before she lost the courage.

"Buffy, Spike is a time bomb, ready to explode at any time. Let me handle him," Riley interrupted her, and for some reason, Buffy found his insistence with the 'Spike subject' annoying. "If it's too hard for you, since you've known each other for years, and sometimes you've worked together, let me kill him for you."

"No!" Her own determination surprised her. She didn't want Riley to risk his life to kill Spike! And, anyway, _she_ was the one to decide what to do with Spike. How dare he ...? " _I'm_ the Slayer, and _I_ decide what to do with demons. Spike is under my control. Don't you dare to lift a finger against him without my permission."

"What? Do you realize what you're- "

"Spike is _my_ business. And he'll stay alive until I say so. Well, un-dead." She didn't know where the need to protect the vampire came from. She only knew that she has to protect Riley from Spike and Spike from Riley.

Riley looked around impatiently. "You're kidding, right?" She shook her head. "You know you can't trust him, and that you should have killed him long ago. You think you've everything under control but it isn't true, Buffy. Maybe he's just pretending to be good, he's fooling you all and he'll attack when you least expect it."

"I know there's the possibility, believe me."

The boy shook his head. "Yes, sure. Go ahead and let him live. And maybe even take him with you tomorrow, because you trust him so much!"

"My God, Riley, you know it isn't like that!"

"That's great, not only do you not want to kill him, but now you also keep me from doing it. Can you explain to me, what's up between you and Spike?"

"What? There's nothing up between me and Spike!" she replied, hating she had to lie. But there was no good in Riley knowing. Spike didn't have to be accused for their relationship failure.

"Listen... They've offered me a new job. Abroad."

 _Uh? What?_

"It's a good opportunity, a great opportunity, and I need to know … Buffy, give me a good reason to refuse."

She blinked and put her hand to her mouth. "That's why you've been so busy? You've been having job interviews? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm telling you now. I wasn't very happy to continue working in the Initiative, after what we found out, so I tested the waters. Honestly, I didn't expect they'd offer me a job so far from Sunnydale. But it's really a good opportunity and I can advance my career. But going abroad means not seeing each other very much, so I'm not sure what to do."

"Or not seeing each other at all," Buffy said bitterly. And why was she so disappointed when he was offering her the way to break up with him on a silver platter? It was as if while she'd been committed to saving their relationship, he'd been actively trying to divide them. No, Buffy reasoned, the truth was it was really over. And if she had to be honest with herself, she hadn't really been committed to saving their relationship. Rubbing against Spike in the alley outside the Bronze or taking him to bed, wasn't really a good way to do that.

"I wish you were my reason to stay, but I'm not sure what you want. Lately you've been so distant... distracted ... like you weren't happy to be with me anymore."

Buffy ran her hands through her hair. "Riley... I can't decide about your life. But you're right, things are not like before. I'm sorry. I meant to tell you about it as soon as possible..."

"All very touching, Agent Finn. When do you fuck off?"

Buffy closed her eyes and groaned. The asshole! So it was as she'd thought. Spike had hidden somewhere and had heard everything!

"Oh, Spike's touchy tonight?" Riley countered. Buffy looked up to heaven and prayed the Power that be for things not going awfully bad from there. "Let me guess, Spike. Your crazy girlfriend left you, and no woman on Earth wants to put up with you? So you keep annoying me and my girlfriend, since you don't really have anything else to do or elsewhere to be?"

Buffy saw it before she heard it, that flicker of malice mixed with uncertainty in his blue eyes now wide open from the insult, a flicker that presaged nothing good. She moved between Riley and the vampire, just as the latter began to say, "Yeah, right, when I'm not shagging..." and she glared at him, daring him to continue, and at the same time begging him not to. Spike looked down at her and she felt her legs tremble. He was so close to spilling the beans to her boyfriend, so close to digging the hole for her and for himself... Then his eyes slowly softened and Spike turned his head to the side, biting his lip, preferring not to look at her while he decided whether to keep being a jerk about it or not.

"And I ask again, what's up between you and Spike?" Riley's annoyed voice demanded behind her.

"Nothing, soldier. It's just, sometimes Buffy finds me... very _useful_." Spike emphasized the last word, looking into her eyes and making her blush. "Well, I'm leaving. I'm sick of hearing your love-struck conversation," he added nonchalantly, as he passed them.

Buffy blinked, confused by his behavior. Had he held back for her? What had he came back for, if not to tell Riley the truth? She was confused but she was also very grateful. If Riley had discovered what had happened between her and Spike, she was sure he would do anything to dust the vampire. And Spike would do anything to hurt Riley. And she didn't want either of those things to happen.

There wasn't much to add. It really was over between them. Riley walked toward the campus alone and with his head bowed, disappointed with how things had gone. He loved Buffy, really loved her, but she was part of a completely different world, with ideas that went against everything he had been taught. He had thought that having a common goal, working together to defeat the demons, would make their relationship stronger than ever. Instead...

At some point, he noticed his feet were taking the wrong direction, wanting to walk around the Lowell House rather than going in the front door. And he could do nothing to stop them. "What's going on?" He wondered, suddenly alarmed that he no longer had full control of his body.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Why on earth did he decide to hold back at the last second? He was so close to making that stupid soldier so miserable and... and then Spike had stopped, just like that. Fuck the bird and her pretty pleading eyes. Now it was the morning after, and he was marching furiously across his crypt, wondering about his actions with bloody Captain Cardboard. And since throwing things in the air and thoroughly trashing the floor didn't get the hoped for results, he stopped and sighed, running his hands over his face. Now that the chip was gone, he shouldn't be scared of her. And really, he was bloody not. He simply hadn't felt like humiliating her further or making her hate him again. She had already been properly humiliated by her own boyfriend, who had kind of dumped her in front of Spike's eyes. So much for all the inner doubts she'd had about leaving the wanker.

Buffy had looked at him and had dared him to continue, and it had become suddenly and perfectly clear that if he told Riley the truth about what happened between him and Buffy, which was why he'd come out in the street, Buffy would have hated it and would have hated him. And he really didn't want that to happen. He didn't want to see disappointment and revulsion in her eyes in the coming days, and the hate... No, he didn't want her to hate him. There was nothing good in making a Slayer hate him. It could be fun for a while, but in the long run, it was definitely a stupid move. She had put her sweet eyes on him, and Spike had added his good sense and his self-preservation instinct, and in the end he had just swallowed the bitter taste and let it go.

No fucking moment of weakness.

And he wouldn't help her because he cared. Hell, he didn't give a fuck about her! He didn't want to help her. He just had a compelling vengeance wish against that commando's boys and the bloody surgeons who had ruined his life, as he had already made clear to her. And there was no way he'd miss the most interesting brawl of the moment! The bloodbath that would follow... demon and human parts all mixed up together. Damn, he wouldn't miss it for the un-life of him!

If he kept repeating this for another ten or twenty times in his head, maybe he would believe it too. Thank you very much. Because the truth was, he couldn't bloody stay away from her. And he didn't want that horrible Adam monster anywhere near her.

Tonight, he told himself. Tonight I'll show Adam what a vampire is capable of. And with that thought, he entered the sewer tunnel, his restless feet leading him to Giles' apartment, where he was going to make a deal with the Slayer and her mates, to help them against the hybrid beast.

"There's no way we're doing that!" Xander stood up from his seat on Giles' couch and began to pace nervously in front of the gathered group. "We don't need Spike for this."

Giles adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Spike is a rather strong vampire and he could be of some help to distract Adam while we're doing our spell."

They were talking about joining their forces to defeat Adam, now that they had the Initiative's layouts and knew where to strike. But the Hybrid was still too strong for them, so Xander had suggested they needed one person with Buffy's strength, Willow magic powers and Giles knowledge, all at once, since some ancient spell had to be chanted in Sumerian to weaken him. It had started like a joke, but Giles agreed it was indeed a brilliant idea and they really could join their essences through another spell, adding also the power of the first Slayer for good measure. However, the procedure was risky and every distraction could be fatal, so Buffy had asked if Spike's presence could be of help.

"If he's not playing Adam's game," finished Giles, shaking his head.

"Spike! Of all the people in the whole world, alive, dead or undead, you want Spike. What's happening to you? I want to know, really," Xander inquired. "Since he helped you when you were a Fyarl demon, it's only good talk about him. Spike isn't so bad, let's ask Spike to help us, Spike would know that because he's a demon. Holy shit! What did he do to you? Brain washing? Or did he just drug you?"

Well, Buffy herself was suspicious about the change in Giles' behavior. Not like Spike could have seduced him like he had done with her. Or had he? Buffy shuddered at the thought and tried to drive away the sudden and very inopportune images of the bleached vampire and her dear Watcher being intimate that had come to her mind.

However, she had to give Spike some credit, since his double-cross had revealed really useful information to them, letting them finally understand Adam's plans. And he had also supplied them with the Initiative's layouts, while Riley had stayed inside those buildings for months and hadn't provided much information apart from the fact that Adam took all his power from an uranium core implanted in his chest. And okay, it was a rather important information but still... And now he was going abroad, leaving them to deal with all the mess his beloved mentor had created. Thank you very much. But maybe it was better this way. Nobody wants to fight against his own ex-colleagues and friends.

A resigned sigh erupted from the Watcher's lips as he massaged his forehead. "It's just that lately I got to thinking ... and to know him better. And I think, with due encouragement, that there's a good possibility that Spike could become a valuable ally for us."

"Even without the chip?" Willow asked uncertainly.

"Let's just... Let's just go without him," Buffy announced, crossing her arms as she made her decision. All this uncertainty wouldn't lead them anywhere. "This is too important and we can't take unnecessary risks. We can't forget Spike has worked with Adam, even if to double cross him, and that without the chip he could hurt soldiers or even ourselves. And I really can't keep an eye on him if I'm busy with Adam."

"Right," agreed Xander, gesturing approvingly toward her.

"I agree," admitted Giles.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Buffy asked with a determined tone.

Willow grabbed some bags with herbs, sand and other things for the spell, while Giles picked up the spell book in Sumerian, a magical gourd, and some candles.

It was strange to prepare to face an enemy like this, Buffy thought as she collected the ropes that would serve them to rappel down the Lowell House lift shaft. She just hoped everything would go well.

Spike cursed in very colorful ways, and even made up some new curses for the occasion, during his sewer trip to the bloody campus. Why the hell didn't they wait for him? When he had arrived at Giles' apartment, he had found the bloody place fucking empty, without a stupid message for him. So he hastened to catch up with them at the University campus, sure to find them there. And sure, they had been there, at the Lowell House entrance. Once he was in the open, he kept himself in the shadows, without letting them know he was there.

Ha! Bloody morons they were, for thinking they could enter from there. Well, technically they could, but they were going the hardest way, not thinking about all the soldiers that would greet them. If only they had waited and listened to him, he would have showed them the 314 lab's secret entrance in the back. The one he was going to take, because he didn't feel at all like being captured once again by those stupid soldiers. However, he would enter the building only when the moment was right.

"Colonel..." Buffy began.

"Shut up," the Colonel interrupted her, as he unzipped the bag his subordinates had confiscated from the Scoobies. Her friends were in military custody, standing in a neat row nearby. "You've got some nerve, lady. You think you and your friends can just keep waltzing into a government installation brandishing weapons like..." He held up the object. "...a gourd?"

"It's a magic gourd," offered Giles.

"What kind of freaks are you people?" the Colonel said, putting the offensive gourd down.

"Adam is here, Colonel. In the Initiative." Buffy tried again, but the man just wouldn't listen. "Those overcrowded containment cells of yours: courtesy of Adam. He's pulling a Trojan Horse on you, he's just waiting-"

"Everything in this installation is under 24-hour surveillance."

"Including the secret lab?" Willow offered.

"Including everything!" he spat. Then, "What secret lab?"

"The one Adam's been using. The one built for the final stage of the 314 project," Buffy explained patiently. The colonel had a blank look on his face, so she continued, "and you have no idea what I'm talking about."

"I know everything that goes on around here," the Colonel stated self-assuredly. "A tick on a mouse couldn't get in without my knowing it. And if Adam wants to try we're ready for him."

"Jolly good," intercepted Giles. "How... How exactly do you plan to get close enough to Adam to remove his power source?"

"Hit him simultaneously with multiple taser blasters," the Colonel said proudly. "Incapacitate him with as much voltage as we can muster."

"Great plan," Xander commented. "That's right up there with 'duck and cover'."

"I've seen Adam hit with taser blasts," Buffy retorted. "He feeds on it. And now you're gonna provide him with an all-you-can-eat buffet?"

"You telling me my business?" The Colonel asked angrily.

"This... is not your business," Buffy stated calmly. "It's mine. You, the Initiative, the boys at the Pentagon... you're all in way over your heads. Messing with primeval forces you have absolutely no comprehension of."

"And you do?" The Colonel challenged her.

"I'm the Slayer. You're playing on my turf."

"Up there, maybe," the man countered. "But down here, I'm the one who's in control."

Suddenly the lights went out, proving he was wrong.

"Sir, the power grid's down. Backup's not responding," one soldier in front of the monitors said.

"It's Adam," Buffy said, getting ready to fight. The screens showed all the containment cells opening simultaneously, their see-through front doors lifted, and unrestrained demons going out into the corridor.

As part of the Initiative was already occupied by the bloody war between humans and demons, Buffy ran along with Giles, Willow and Xander to the project 314 area, whose position Willow's smart mind had guessed by looking carefully at the labs' layout.

The guys moved a wheeled shelf with several canisters, and Buffy tested the wall behind, almost immediately finding the door that led to the secret laboratory. Giles began to place the bag's contents on a steel table. The room was deserted and it was well away from the carnage still taking place inside the structure.

Buffy opened the two doors that led to the secret lab. "Once I'm in, barricade the door behind me," she said. "Is this place okay to be Magic Central?"

Giles nodded. "It, uh, should do."

"How long before the ritual kicks in?" Buffy inquired.

"Five minutes, give or take."

"Buffy, I still don't like you going in alone." Xander was looking at her with a worried expression.

The Slayer turned, mindful of their peacemaker embrace in the elevator shaft, and smiled at him. "I won't be."

It was true, recently they had gradually separated from each other, losing the enthusiasm that had permeated the group at the beginning. The enthusiasm to do things together and the trust to confide in each other. Xander had begun to date Anya and hadn't continued his studies, as opposed to Buffy and Willow. Buffy had started to go out with Riley, and Willow was often busy with her Wicca group, not to mention Giles' crisis, when he had found himself all of a sudden without a job, after Sunnydale's High destruction, and he had started drinking. But during their last meeting, they had realized they could only defeat Adam by combining their forces, and they had all apologized to each other for having strayed from the group and causing the loss of past harmony. Then they had sworn they wouldn't lose sight of each other again, and would always support each other.

It was easier said than done, but they were determined to respect this deal and really happy to recover their enthusiasm in being together as a group.

Buffy walked slowly along the well-lit passage and discovered it ended on a little platform above a large rectangular room, its floor a couple of meters below where she stood. The room was equipped with steel gurneys, several shelves, and carts full of surgical tools. Her attention was caught by a figure tied to a chair and Buffy narrowed her eyes to focus on it. When she realized it was Riley, she gasped and hurried down the steps to join him.

"Riley? Are you hurt?" She asked, wondering if Adam had captured him after they had separated the previous evening, but he stared at her without answering. "Please, say something."

She was about to untie him when she saw his eyes were pleading for her attention. When they had it, he looked at something behind her and she turned around to follow his gaze. Professor Walsh and another doctor were walking slowly toward her, but they were moving way too strangely, like a pair of zombies, and their coats were bloodied.

"What happened here? Why don't you talk to me?" She asked again, while a part of her brain rationalized Professor Walsh should have been dead.

"He can't. He's not programmed to."

Buffy turned to Adam's voice, which had come from the other end of the long rectangular room, but all of a sudden she felt someone grabbing her shoulders. It was Forrest, revived and combined with a yellow demon, that now was trying to hold her back while Professor Walsh approached with a kind of surgery saw to cut her to pieces.

Now that she was close, Buffy could see what had become of Riley's former mentor. Without batting an eye, she kicked and sent Walsh flying against a surgical table, while the clatter of a metal grate crashing to the ground caught her attention on her right. Everyone turned toward the sound and she saw Spike jumping into the room from a high window.

"Spike," Adam said, as soon as the vampire landed on the floor. "Have you come to join us in the slaughter?"

"No, I came to kick your ass." Spike reached the doctors and quickly pulled out the tubes which were feeding them, knocking them out. They didn't put up much resistance, their movements too slow, as if they were simply following orders rather than thinking for themselves. Their bodies folded up like two rag dolls and Spike went over to Forrest, intent on attacking him, giving Buffy the opportunity to run after Adam who was slyly walking away from the lab. If the hybrid had been surprised by his change of side, it hadn't let it on. Spike briefly wondered if Adam had taken into account the possibility of his betrayal when he had removed his chip before they had completed their plans.

Spike shot a quick glance at Riley, who was still bound to a chair, unable to speak. "Good look you've got there," he said, before grabbing a stick from the ground and rushing towards Forrest.

Meanwhile, in the nearby lab, Willow began to chant the spell to combine their essences as Giles lit the candles.

After taking Forrest out of action, which had turned out to be way more complicated than he had expected, Spike ran in search of Buffy, to lend her his help. He found her in a room full of computers and other equipment, where she was having some difficulty fighting against Adam.

Fighting hand to hand with Adam, confirmed to Buffy that the hybrid was still too strong for her and that they had little chance of succeeding until the merging spell took effect. At one point, she saw Spike appearing in the doorway. He stood on the sidelines to watch them fight, and the Slayer briefly wondered what he was going to do. After a while, as if to answer her question, the vampire began to hit Adam in turn. Spike's vampire strength was similar to her own, so it didn't give them a real advantage, but allowed her to gain time. In fact, if the spell didn't work soon, they would both become cannon fodder, giving their enemy the exact pieces he needed to form his army. The thought gave Buffy the chills and she tried not to think about it.

"I see you didn't need my help, after all," Spike said with sarcasm between his shots.

"Look, I really don't need your help. We can handle this all on our own," she said, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. She took advantage of Adam being distracted by Spike to swiftly approach the hybrid and grab his Polgara's spike from his arm, breaking it against her knee.

"Oops, I broke your arm."

Adam retreated a few steps, and before their very eyes, the broken arm healed was replaced with a machine gun. Spike grabbed Buffy and together they jumped and landed behind the counter with the computers, to have some kind of shelter while Adam began to shoot at them.

Temporarily safe, Buffy prayed again for the spell to be ready soon. Spike groaned and pulled off his duster, revealing a bullet had wounded his arm. She looked at him in surprise, realizing he had shielded her with his body. She wondered why he had decided to come and help them after they had cut him out.

"Why... ?" She asked, without ending her question, all her doubts condensed in one single word. Their eyes met for a moment and Spike was the first to divert his gaze, uncomfortable.

"Indeed, I was just reflecting upon the fine line between 'I have everything under control' and 'how the hell did I get into this shit'," he retorted, managing to make her smile for a brief second. But just as Buffy was about to thank him, the vampire started screaming inexplicably, holding his head in his hands.

Author's note: the dialogue with the Colonel and the final part with Adam was taken from episode 4x21, Primeval. I've only added Spike's presence and the interactions with him. I thought it didn't make sense to rewrite the whole part inside the Initiative, making things go a little differently, only to have the same results. So I basically kept the official plot. Adding Spike in it was fun enough :)

Next chapter is the last chapter of this story.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Adam stared as the blond vampire jumped behind the counter with the Slayer, shielding her from the bullets with his body .

This vampire was a complete failure. All the data loaded in his memory couldn't explain how he had managed to survive for so long without the necessary detachment.

The hybrid had believed he had convinced the vampire to join the demon insurrection. But no, the subject had chosen the human side, and specifically the Slayer side. He was helping her to fight him. And now, he had taken a bullet in her place, possibly saving her life.

Adam couldn't understand.

His data in this regard were incomplete or missing.

He knew betrayal was in a vampire's nature, so he had predicted that possibility. But to betray him to side with the Slayer? That was unpredictable. He knew Spike was attracted to the woman, but its database said that vampires couldn't feel affection or compassion. They always stood on the powerful one's side, on the winning side.

So maybe... Spike _knew_ that Adam would have failed and the Slayer would have won this battle?

He didn't understand that either, how this could happen. Despite all the variables he had tried, the patterns he had followed to the letter. He had done everything by the book, everything was done correctly. Everything had to go as planned.

Instead...

The vampire didn't deserve his gift.

-o-

 _The vampire started screaming inexplicably, holding his head in his hands._

Buffy's head snapped toward him, concern evident in her features. "What's going on?"

Spike stood up from their hiding place and faced Adam. "You bloody tosser! What's happening to my chip? I thought you removed it!"

"No. I just turned it off."

" _What?_ " Spike roared, his hands to his head. "And what was that? A shock test? Or did you break it once and for all?"

"The shock test tells the chip is back on."

"What the hell?"

"Since you betrayed me, I felt right to cancel my medium of exchange."

"No!" Spike yelled, pointing a finger at him. "You sodding wanker! Disable this bloody chip immediately!"

Buffy rolled her eyes. She wished she had a camera to film him. The look on Spike's face in that moment was priceless, halfway between despair and bewilderment. "Look at it this way. He did you a favor," she said to the vampire, barely holding back her joy. "Now I won't be forced to kill you."

Adam had found the perfect way to make him pay. Spike was forced to stay in Sunnydale under their protection and won't be able to hurt a fly. And strangely, she liked that idea.

"I showed you what you were still capable of. But you didn't earn it. I made you believe you were free, this is your punishment."

Adam raised his arm and this time the machine gun was replaced with a cannon. Buffy and Spike quickly dropped behind the counter, while Adam fired. Through the smoke that followed, Spike saw Buffy groan and bend forward. For a terrible moment he thought she was injured and felt an intense pang inside his heart, or inside what was left in its place. He approached her and gently grabbed her by the shoulders. "Slayer! Buffy?" He called, surprised at how upset his voice had come out .

Gingerly, he took her face in his hands and saw that her green eyes were wide open and ... no, they were no longer green. Now Buffy was staring at him with yellow eyes and a very cold and firm look, like a plain killer. She started to get up on her own, with measured movements, and speaking in a strange language. It gave him the creeps, but caused an immediate reaction in his lower parts anyway. 'Bloody hell!', he thought, adjusting his pants. Pissed Off Buffy always made him horny.

Wide Blue eyes stared fixedly at her as she turned around the counter they were hiding behind, and moved toward Adam. Spike stood up from his hiding place, not wanting to miss the show. Buffy kept talking- no, kept chanting - in that strange language, as she approached the hybrid, and Adam kept staring impassively at her. "Interesting," he said at one point, and loaded the gun on his arm.

Spike was about to spring forward and go to her aid, but then realized this had to be her secret weapon and decided to give them space. The Slayer didn't need his help, now. Although, sitting still on the sidelines, without being able to intervene, was driving him mad.

Adam fired his weapon and the bullets remained suspended in mid-air between them, as if there was an invisible barrier in front of Buffy. "Very interesting," Adam said, now slightly worried. Buffy swung her arm in front of him, her palm facing Adam, and the bullets fell to the ground. Then the hybrid's arm dropped to his side and the machine gun dismounted by itself, its pieces falling on the floor. Spike hoped this would end as soon as possible, because at that point he was so horny, if Buffy moved her hand or talked again or something, he would come in his pants.

But no, the Slayer didn't take pity on him, and now that Adam had lost its military weapons, the two opponents began an intense hand-to-hand combat. This time, however, their strength was equal, and Buffy could easily block his shots. The hybrid soon had its back against the wall and gasped as Buffy pierced his chest with her bare hand and extracted his uranium core.

Spike groaned at the sight and grabbed the counter top with both hands, his legs giving way beneath him. "Fuck!" He cursed under his breath. He shook for several seconds and then dropped behind the counter, cursing the hot Slayer and now sticky pants.

-o-

Adam looked at the uranium core in the Slayer hand, his vital essence.

He was built to regenerate any part that got injured in a fight, even his head. He had been programmed not to be deceived by the enemy. He was created because he was the perfect soldier, the perfect combination of man and machine and demon. The 314 project was the future, the result of evolution.

Still, he had failed.

The Slayer was holding his artificial heart in her hands and he simply shut down like a common appliance to which someone had removed the electrical link.

-o-

Something heavy fell to the floor and Spike stood up with difficulty to see what it was, supporting himself with trembling legs. Adam was lying on the ground. Its uranium core was hanging in the air in front of Buffy and was wrapped in a brilliant green light. The vampire watched as she disintegrated it with the sole force of her gaze.

Then Riley appeared at the door, a bloodied hand resting on his chest. "Buffy?" He called, and as he approached her, she went limp in his arms.

-o-

"Buffy?"

Recognizing the familiar voice, the girl regained consciousness and opened her eyes. Slowly sitting up, she realized she was perched on one of the lab steel gurney. She looked around.

"Are you hurt?" She asked Riley, staring at his blood stained jacket.

"Had to cut myself to extract the behavioral chip Dr. Walsh had implanted in my chest without my knowledge," he explained. "Adam activated it last night after we split up, making me come here against my will. That's why I couldn't speak to you."

Buffy approached him to check the wound. "What's he doing here?" Riley asked, pointing with his chin toward the figure behind her.

Turning around, she saw Spike sitting on the ground, a weird blank stare in his eyes as he looked in front of him. "He came to help us," she explained, as the memories swiftly came back to mind. "But Adam thought it was more fun to reactivate his chip."

The corners of Riley mouth turned upwards. "That's what he deserves."

While Buffy helped Riley to walk toward the exit, Giles, Willow and Xander ran to meet them.

"How did it go?"

"Wonderfully," Buffy smiled at them. Then, "Um, Giles? Could you help Spike up?"

-o-

For her friends, things couldn't have gone better. Xander seemed to have found his soul mate in the former vengeance demon, Willow had finally admitted that Tara was her girlfriend, and Giles seemed to have recovered from his mid-life crisis and decided to buy Sunnydale's magic shop, turning himself into a businessman. It was really a clever choice, actually. The place had a huge back room that could be equipped as a gym for workouts, had tables and shelves full of books, perfect for research, as well as everything you needed to make masses of spells! And everyone seemed to have rediscovered the enthusiasm of being together.

Riley was admitted to a military hospital along with his former colleagues who survived the carnage. The doctors had stitched him up and were keeping him under observation, to test any side effects due to his chip activation. When they were satisfied, he would leave right away for overseas.

And Spike... Well, Spike had surprised everyone. Even if Adam hadn't reactivated his chip, Buffy wouldn't have the heart to turn him into dust, not after he had helped with Forrest and had taken a bullet to protect her. Not that a bullet would have killed him, though the gesture had to count for something.

Buffy arrived at her destination and knocked gently on the crypt door, for once avoiding tearing it down. Not hearing any response, she cautiously opened it and saw a dim light coming from downstairs. As she was approaching the trap door, Spike's disheveled head appeared.

"Oh, it's you."

"Can I...?"

The vampire blinked, confused for a moment. "I ... I was going to bed."

"To bed?" She looked at him incredulously.

"Well, it's been an exhausting day."

"Yeah, well. I thought we could talk a little. About what happened today."

Spike sighed and climbed down the stairs, making room for her.

"There's nothing to talk about," he began, looking around uneasily.

Uh-huh, Big Bad's afraid of me? The Slayer wondered, as she looked around to see where he lived, as she had never seen the underground of his crypt. She did it also to avoid looking Spike in the face. He was just too adorable with all those unruly curls on his head.

"What are you going to do, now?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. But I'll probably leave this hellhole for a while."

She stepped closer and sensuously began to stroke his chest through his black cotton shirt. He winced and Buffy smiled to herself. "You know, I was thinking ..." she began, trying to draw out her most seductive voice. "That you might stay here to help us."

The look in his eyes made her feel ablaze.

"Um, and what do I get in return?"

Buffy smiled and lowered her hands to grab the hem of his shirt. Spike raised his arms and let her pull the garment over his head. Then she threw the shirt behind her, not caring where it landed. When she placed her hands on the vampire's chest, Spike's pupils widened and his breathing became labored.

"I hope this isn't a joke, because-" he began, as Buffy grabbed his head and crashed her lips to his...

-o-

What a lovely couple they were, enemies but lovers. And as long as Spike had his chip, Buffy felt a bit safer. He would be forced to stay in Sunnydale for protection, he could help them, and the two of them could see each other in secret, in a kind of friends with beneficts situation.

She couldn't explain why, but she needed him. Perhaps to vent all the adrenaline she had accumulated during the fight with Adam, or perhaps to try to fill the void Riley had left in her... She needed Spike and she would take him. Again and again. It wasn't as if he minded. And knowing that she had that freedom, to have him every time she wished, knowing that she had that power over him, make her feel wonderful.

"You know this time your boyfriend didn't do anything, right? He just sat there, bound like a sausage without even talking, while I was working to help you."

Buffy smiled as she straddled him, rocking gently over his body.

"And then he cut his chest, just to make himself look good. You know he's an idiot, right?"

Buffy stopped, unable to hold her laughter anymore. She let herself fall onto his chest, her hair cascading like a waterfall on his shoulders. Then she cocked her head and started to draw some imaginary patterns with her finger on his flesh. "You know Riley and I aren't together anymore, right?" She looked at him. "So stop being jealous."

Spike grinned. And it wasn't simply a grin, it was her _favourite_ grin, the one that made her legs quiver. And then he drew her into his arm to kiss her properly.

THE END


End file.
